The year 2013 will be marked by a push towards internationalization. This is the primary objective emerging from the initiatives promoted by ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, for the upcoming year and approved at its Board of Directors meeting held on November 13.
The promotional initiatives planned by ACIMIT for the coming year will involve about 10 countries: Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, South Africa, Turkey and Vietnam. The instruments to promote the sector will be the same as used so far: technology symposiums organized abroad and training courses for foreign operators in Italy.
“With our promotional plan we intend to provide continuity to the work undertaken over many years in consolidated global textile machinery markets such as China and India,” states ACIMIT President Sandro Salmoiraghi. “Simultaneously, however, we also want to support machinery manufacturers both in emerging textile markets (Bangladesh and Vietnam, for instance) and in sectors with a high potential, such as technical and innovative textiles.” In this regard, ACIMIT has planned to be present at Techtextil Frankfurt in June.
The year 2013 will also be marked by initiatives aimed at promoting awareness for ACIMIT’s “Sustainable Technologies” project in India and Bangladesh. A symposium will be organized to present ‘Made in Italy’ sustainable technologies in Bangladesh, with communication activities linked to the project taking place in both the countries.
“The current economic difficulties also hinder the possibilities of obtaining public financing,” notes Salmoiraghi. “In spite of this, ACIMIT has been working together with the Ministry of Economic Development and the Italian Trade Commission to promote the internationalization of Italian businesses abroad, providing a promotional plan that is suited to the needs of a sector such as ours, for which over 80% of the total turnover comes from foreign markets.”
At the ACIMIT Board of Directors meeting, new companies associated during 2011-2012 were welcomed. President Salmoiraghi also invested 30 companies with the ACIMIT plate. He says: “The number of newly associated firms represents an encouraging sign for the entire sector. The economic situation is indeed difficult, and also bears witness to the deep level of uncertainty permeating forecasts for 2013, as elaborated by ACIMIT based on feedback from manufacturers. During tough times such as these, the collective work of our association represents a first step in acting together as a group; there’s no need to feel alone in forging ahead and promoting one’s business ventures.”
He concludes with the statement: “Both the association and its members will work together to achieve common goals capable of providing a further boost to our industry.”
One of these objectives is ITMA 2015, the most important global textile machinery trade fair to be held in Milan, with a commitment to collaborate in the event’s success taken by all participants at the ACIMIT Board meeting.